{"id":19011,"date":"2026-10-26T10:50:49","date_gmt":"2026-10-26T10:50:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/topat10.com\/?p=19011"},"modified":"2026-10-26T10:50:49","modified_gmt":"2026-10-26T10:50:49","slug":"how-they-lost-the-cola-wars-pepsi-generates-twice-the-revenue-of-coca-cola-yet-its-market-cap-is-only-half-as-big","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/topat10.com\/?p=19011","title":{"rendered":"How they lost the cola wars: Pepsi generates twice the revenue of Coca-Cola, yet its market cap is only half as big"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

Pepsi has suffered many setbacks in recent years, but perhaps few were as symbolic as being jilted by a long-time partner it used to own, KFC. The fried chicken chain said last week that it would begin replacing PepsiCo\u2019s soft drinks with Coca-Cola products at its 3,700 U.S. restaurants in January. The two companies\u2019 partnership stretches back 40 years, to when PepsiCo bought the fast-food chain. (PepsiCo spun KFC off in 1997.)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

In the 1980s and \u201990s, Pepsi dominated the cola culture wars with the Pepsi Challenge and TV commercials featuring Michael Jackson and Cindy Crawford.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But last year, Pepsi-Cola only had 8.1% of the U.S. carbonated soft drinks market by volume, far behind Coke\u2019s 18.5%. Pepsi is now the third most popular drink behind Dr. Pepper.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Coke reshaped its business around brand building and innovation. PepsiCo, meanwhile, remained a sprawling portfolio company where soda was merely one priority among many. The result is a PepsiCo that generates more than twice as much revenue as Coca-Cola, yet its market valuation is only about half as big.<\/span><\/p>\n

MORE FROM FORTUNE<\/h3>\n

Forget the House and the Senate, the economy may hinge on state and local races in the midterm elections<\/span><\/a> – Jason Ma<\/span><\/p>\n

United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby has another \u2018non-consensus opinion\u2019 besides a wealth tax: national service for everyone<\/span><\/a> – Jason Ma<\/span><\/p>\n

Trump critic Lula wins reelection, saying Brazil is not \u2018anyone\u2019s backyard,\u2019 while Bolsonaro asks for results to be annulled<\/span><\/a> – The AP<\/span><\/p>\n

Singapore urges suppliers to \u2018honor commitments\u2019, as Indonesia slashes gas exports to the country by 9%<\/span><\/a> – Angelica Ang<\/span><\/p>\n

Biotech firm Rakuten Medical wants to bring its novel \u2018lightsaber\u2019 cancer cure to the U.S.<\/span><\/a> – Angelica Ang<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018We like to be first to be second\u2019: How True Religion\u2019s CEO is rebuilding the denim brand for Gen Z and millennials<\/span><\/a> – Tatiana Sataua<\/span><\/p>\n

THE ROCKY ROAD TO THE IPO<\/h3>\n

Anthropic\u2019s Claude bypassed a paywall to access U.S. voter data, company admits<\/b><\/h2>\n

While working on an internal statistics project, Anthropic\u2019s Claude bypassed a paywall without authorization to access information on voting totals at a State of Georgia website, the company said. \u201cWe have since put in place mitigations to block these kinds of actions,” the company said. The company urged the Georgia secretary of state’s office to disclose the information weeks ago, but its pleas went unanswered, <\/span>Axios reports<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Oops: Anthropic denied the right to use \u201cClaude Mythos\u201d as a trademark<\/b><\/h2>\n

As Anthropic heads toward its $2 trillion IPO, it has a slight problem, <\/span>according to attorney Josh Gerben<\/span><\/a>. The USPTO has repeatedly denied Anthropic the right to use \u201cClaude Mythos\u201d as a trademark that it owns. Apparently, three other software companies got there first. \u201cThere is a likelihood of confusion\u201d if Anthropic is allowed to trade with the name, the USPTO said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Anthropic can appeal. Or it can approach the other companies and buy the name from them. Suddenly, three previously obscure companies are potentially sitting on a goldmine.<\/span><\/p>\n

THE MARKETS<\/h3>\n

Traders are looking on the bright side despite last week\u2019s carnage in tech stocks<\/b><\/h2>\n

Traders are looking on the bright side today: <\/span>Talks between Saudi Arabia and Iran are ongoing<\/span><\/a>, and the credit ratings agency Moody\u2019s left France\u2019s credit rating unchanged from before the riots. The yield on France\u2019s 10-year bonds eased back below the headline-inducing 5% level to 4.94%; similarly, the U.S. 10-year was at 4.99%.<\/span><\/p>\n

U.S. futures were up this morning prior to the bell in New York after stocks rose in Europe in early trading.<\/span><\/p>\n

Asia was flat to down today as the price of oil remained painfully high\u2014above $114 per barrel.<\/span><\/p>\n

Incoming: <\/b>Alphabet and Microsoft report Q3 earnings on Wednesday and Amazon reports on Thursday. The Fed decides on the base interest rate on Wednesday\u2014futures markets are betting it will be held at 3.75%.<\/span><\/p>\n